Using 2008 prices with 2000-07 data, the keys to modest, less variable profits with minimal complexity and less reliance on skill or luck have been

• moderate intensity (60-80%) of profitable, reliable crops cereal after fallow or a forage break, and
• a modest but profitable livestock enterprise.

• The nitrogen status of the sites was captured prior to the treatments being implemented as a baseline for the nitrogen impact of the treatments in the second year crop.
• The groundcover impact of each of the treatments has been assessed in December 2015 and February 2016.
• The data already indicates that a number of the treatment will not be viable as they resulted in a less than 50 % groundcover which will increase the risk of erosion of Mallee sand to an unacceptable level.
• At this stage the only viable options that reduce chemical usage are the cutting for hay and the use of a blade plough to terminate the crop and associated weeds.

• The trial did re-iterate that early sowing provides more opportunity to ‘play the season’ and alter N management to significantly impact on crop yield outcomes compared with the late sown crops which, in the truncated 2010 season, provided little opportunity for changing N management.  This suggests that focusing on getting the N management of the earlier sown crops sown right for a given season is a good investment of time. Further testing will give a clearer picture as to whether Yield Prophet adds significant value to helping make these decisions. 
• Although the Farmer group were original concerned about the Yield Prophet N budget, tt appears that the model has utilized deep soil test data to reasonably assess the supply of soil N to plants and the movement of soil and applied N through the profile. From this point of view, with the addition of an accurately characterized soil profile, the model may allow growers to better account for and manage nitrogen supply and losses from below the 0-10cm zone.
• Although yields from the Farmer strategy tended to be higher than the Yield Prophet strategy (although not significant), returns per hectare (net of Nitrogen and application costs) were very similar due to the increased costs associated with the Farmer strategy. With further soil characterization and ‘ground proofing’ a tool such as Yield Prophet may be a useful way to reduce the risks and more accurately quantify the benefits associated with applying in-crop nitrogen.
• This trial will be repeated in 2011, and with a more accurate soil characterization it is expected that Yield Prophet will be more accurately assessed.

• Non wetting soil resulted in poor weed germination pre seeding
• Pre seeding the total trial area received 2 knockdowns with 1.5 L/ha Sprayseed.
• The limitation and knowledge of the relative tolerance of the different perennial grasses to grass selective herbicides prevented removal of late germinating brome and ryegrass from the trial post seeding.
• Jaguar was sprayed on the 29/6/2011 and good broad leaf control was achieved.
• For further results please see the attached trial report.

• One of the fundamental problems of pale deep sands is their poor water and nutrient holding capacity. While cultivation techniques can overcome water repellence they do not necessarily greatly alter the lack of water holding capacity. Similarly addition of clay at rates of 100-150 t/ha can be used to overcome water repellence but will not greatly increase water holding capacity.
• Deep ripping or the soil loosening caused by rotary spading or mouldboard ploughing allows faster root growth and improved nutrient and water uptake and this appears to be one of the primary reasons for the improved yields. The advantage of the rotary spader and mouldboard plough over deep ripping alone is improved weed control and reduced water repellence although the longevity of this is unknown.
• Reduced water repellence may prove to be more significant in certain seasons and more sensitive crops. Sustained productivity benefits are likely to be required for these approaches to be economically viable.

• More moderate clay rich subsoil application rates of 100-150 t/ha are less costly to apply, can be easily incorporated, can still improve crop establishment and productivity and importantly can reduce some of the risks associated with crops haying off due to water shortage during grain filling in dry seasons.
• Clay spreading is likely to be more beneficial in higher rainfall, longer season environments and in wetter seasons where the risk of water shortage at grain fill and haying off is reduced.

FARMER COMMENTS

Usability of Yield Prophet

·         High input requirement to get detailed data out, but once it is setup the online format is easy to use and generates good reports.

·         Easy to use once you are familiar with the program.

Usefulness of Yield Prophet set-up process

·         Farmers commented that the exercise of opening up a deep soil pit was on one the most informative and useful aspects of the Yield Prophet process.

·         Good training with a consultant on how to use the tool was vital as well.

Yield Prophet reports

·         Farmers had mixed comments about the reports with each having their favorite report- one farmer chose to use only the crop report to make his decisions.

·         One farmer found the profit comparison report the most useful where as another found it the least useful report commenting ‘it is pretty obvious through the comparison report if the is likely to be a financial response, the seasonal risk is too great to compare nitrogen profitability to the last dollar.’

·         Farmers found the climate and weather aspects to the crop report of interest, specifically the breakdown of chances of certain weather characteristics influencing yield, however in reality this didn’t really clarify decision making.

·         The reports reference the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) which is generally considered irrelevant to the Western Australia.

·         Growth stages of crops were very accurate for all sites.

Other aspects that limited yield

·         Three of the four sites experienced a three week dry spell that was accompanied by warm, weather at the beginning of September. The yield prophet crop reports at all three sites did not indicate that crop was experiencing moisture stress or heat shock. The three farmers commented separately that this dry spell had impacted the crop yield.

·         One of the potential issues is the assumption of root growth and rooting depth. If there is low soil nutrition at depth it is likely that the roots are "lazy" during the growing season and don't go as deep as the model suggests. This would then affect the modeling of water use down the profile and water stress on the plant.

·         One farmer generated a report on 26 September which indicated the crop was under moisture stress, however this did not convert to yield penalty in the crop report.

 

Future of Yield Prophet in West Midlands region

The low water holding capacity of sands in the West Midlands region means that the effect of short term dry spells has greater significance than total rainfall on production- this seems to be difficult to simulate in Yield Prophet.

Simulated yield on two out of the four sites was far from what would be considered an acceptable level of variation (1 t/ha for yellow sand and 1.85 t/ha for shallow loamy duplex). However the other two sites simulated yield very well.

Typical farm paddock of 60-70ha within the West Midlands region has multiple soil types present. At this stage Yield Prophet only allows the user to simulate one soil type per paddock. There is the ability to separately log each soil type however this requires a great deal of information input and the user has to pay a ‘paddock’ subscription for each soil type.

Unfortunately, there are very few soils classified in the West Midlands region, to WMG’s knowledge the five soils classified as part of this project are the only fully characterized soils in the West Midlands region. This project has estimated that the cost of fully classifying a soil is $3,000. When there is so few soil types classified in the West Midlands region coupled with farmers having multiple soil types (sometimes more than a dozen) on their farm this cost is the key barrier to adoption of this tool in the West Midlands region.

• The optimum agronomic sowing window for field pea coincided with high blackspot risk in many districts of South Australia in 2015.
• Under such high disease risk situations, growers in low rainfall areas may be best suited to choose alternative break crop options to field pea to avoid significant yield losses through delayed sowing or disease infection.
• Experimental fungicide treatments with greater efficacy than Mancozeb showed improved blackspot control and significant yield increases over the Nil and Mancozeb treatments in 2015. Further assessment and application approval is still required.

 

• The optimum agronomic sowing window for field pea coincided with high blackspot in many districts of South Australia in 2015.
• Under such high disease risk situations, growers in low rainfall areas may be best suited to choose alternative break crop options to field pea to avoid significant yield losses through delayed sowing or disease infection.
• Experimental fungicide treatments with greater efficacy than mancozeb showed improved blackspot control and significant yield increases over the nil and mancozeb treatments in 2015. Further assessment and application approval is still required.

There was no evidence that the use of strobilurin fungicides lowered grain protein relative to untreated crops, despite yield increases of over 30%, contradicting European work where strobilurin application lowered grain protein through yield dilution. In this study strobilurin treatment was associated with either no effect or higher grain protein levels relative to untreated crops fertilised with the same amount of nitrogen. However, there was a slight trend to suggest that strobilurin treated crops utilised higher N rates better than untreated crops since where there was a margin advantage to nitrogen application it tended to be greater with the strobilurin treatments.

• Cereal stubble contributes only a small percentage of the nitrogen requirement for a following cereal crop (2 to 11% of N from 2014 wheat stubble was taken up by 2015 and 2016 crops).
• Urea fertiliser nitrogen use efficiency of the 2014 wheat crop was 35%.
• The 2015 drought reduced the influence of stubble management treatments on nitrogen cycling, yield and carry over effects on microbial activity.

Prevention of bacterial blight (BB):

• In frost prone areas, sow field pea varieties that have some resistance against BB
• Use seed that was harvested from a crop that was free of BB
• Do not apply herbicides to the crop if there is a risk of frost as this can increase the
• risk of BB

If bacterial blight infects a crop:

• Do not drive over the paddock as bacteria will spread on wheels of vehicle
• Harvest the infected pea crop after uninfected crops, to prevent spread of bacteria
• through the harvester to other pea seed
• Do not spread stubble or hay from the infected crop to other paddocks as bacteria
• will survive in the stubble
• Do not keep pea seed for next years’ crop
• No sprays or seed dressings can control BB effectively

• Earlier times of sowing for barley in the HRZ can have many advantages, but should be carefully weighed up in terms of added costs involved with an earlier time of sowing
• Westminster was once again a standout variety across all sowing dates, performing well in both April sown and May sown conditions
• The use of PGRs can significantly reduce the height of early sown crops, and significantly improve yields across all varieties

• Commercial viability has been difficult to demonstrate.
• Field trials demonstrated that the H Senor was able to accurately classify annual ryegrass in several broadleaf crops, including canola, faba bean, lentil and field pea.
• Other grass weeds such as brome grass and wild oats were also correctly identified as grasses in these crops.
• Broad leaf weeds were accurately classified in cereal crops, however this was more difficult due to the overlapping nature of the cereal crops at the time when the broadleaf weeds had emerged.
• Classification accuracy was lower for detection of grass weeds in cereal crops and broadleaf weeds in broadleaf crops, and these scenarios were not pursued for that reason.  

• Group 1 (A) selective herbicide in 2019 gave good barley grass control, with an early application (2-4 leaf) better than a late application (Z31). Group 2 (B) herbicide in 2021 pasture gave similar results but control was not as effective.
• Paraquat spray topping in 2019 did not reduce seed set.
• Slashing in 2021 gave excellent seed set control.
• Effective Group A weed control in 2019 combined with Sakura® + Treflan® in 2020 successfully reduced this very dense barley grass population by 98% compared to a rotation of grazing (no herbicide) in 2019 and Treflan® alone in 2020, but barley grass was still dense in 2021.
• The seedbank lasts 3-4 years, particularly in dry years where not all seed has the opportunity to emerge.

In 2019, herbicides ensured that barley grass density was low throughout the trial.

In spite of good crontrol in 2019, there was high barley grass density in 2020, potentailly from the 2019 seed production and dormant seed bank.

The 2020 use of Intercept® herbicide reduced barley grass across the whole trial, with higher crop yield following Intercept® at 500 mL/ha compared to 375mL/ha.

In 2019, herbicides ensured that barley grass density was low throughout the trial.

In spite of good crontrol in 2019, there was high barley grass density in 2020, potentailly from the 2019 seed production and dormant seed bank.

The 2020 use of Intercept® herbicide reduced barley grass across the whole trial, with higher crop yield following Intercept® at 500 mL/ha compared to 375mL/ha.

In 2019, herbicides ensured that barley grass density was low throughout the trial.

In spite of good crontrol in 2019, there was high barley grass density in 2020, potentailly from the 2019 seed production and dormant seed bank.

The 2020 use of Intercept® herbicide reduced barley grass across the whole trial, with higher crop yield following Intercept® at 500 mL/ha compared to 375mL/ha.

In 2019, herbicides ensured that barley grass density was low throughout the trial.

In spite of good crontrol in 2019, there was high barley grass density in 2020, potentailly from the 2019 seed production and dormant seed bank.

The 2020 use of Intercept® herbicide reduced barley grass across the whole trial, with higher crop yield following Intercept® at 500 mL/ha compared to 375mL/ha.

• Barley grass can have late, staggered cohorts, and so full control requires pre- and post-emergent control.
• Clearfield® crops or pasture ‘break crops’ allow excellent in-crop control and reduction of barley grass seed production.
• Resistance remains very low at this site. A diverse crop rotation allows a rotation of herbicide groups to avoid resistance development.

• The Ethrel @ 500ml and 750 ml @ flag leaf emergence produced the shortest crops, and therefore in broad acre situations this product may be the most effective at reducing crop height and preventing lodging. 
• For further conclusions plese see the attached trial repor.t

• Mundah a short season feed barley from WA outperformed Galleon when sown in July by almost doubling its yield.
• There was no benefit of using high rates of P when sowing late.

The growing season both regionally and nationally was characterised by very favourable late spring conditions, favouring later maturing varieties. For many growers, the rains arrived in time to allow average to above average yields, particularly for the later maturing varieties. But for some growers, and for very early maturing varieties, the crops had past the point of response and disappointing yields resulted. In most areas, grain plumpness has been quite good although cleaved grain has been a problem in some of the earlier maturing areas.

While aphids were observed on early sown oat crops in the Hamilton district during April and early May, they did not appear to breed up and cause problems by spreading BYDV through later sown crops. BYDV was not reported as a major problem in the western
districts in 2003 and the symptoms of the disease were not observed in the trial at Hamilton. While there was a slight increase in yield where insecticide was applied on the plots it did not relate to a significant difference between any of the insecticidal treatments. The only significant differences were between the two varieties.

An extremely highl level of barley yellow dwarf disease was recorded in Victorian cereal crops in 2013; 40-70 per cent infection.

A high number of aphids flying into crops from neighbouring vegetation reduced the effectiveness of the insecticides.

Regular crop monitoring is essential to maximise yield while minimising the effects of aphids and BYD spread.

• Commercial viability has been difficult to demonstrate.
• Field trials demonstrated that the H Senor was able to accurately classify annual ryegrass in several broadleaf crops, including canola, faba bean, lentil and field pea.
• Other grass weeds such as brome grass and wild oats were also correctly identified as grasses in these crops.
• Broad leaf weeds were accurately classified in cereal crops, however this was more difficult due to the overlapping nature of the cereal crops at the time when the broadleaf weeds had emerged.
• Classification accuracy was lower for detection of grass weeds in cereal crops and broadleaf weeds in broadleaf crops, and these scenarios were not pursued for that reason.  

• Positive relationships (R2 = 0.6) were observed between water and grain yield (t/ha) across 14 Eyre Peninsula (EP) paddocks.
• Yeelanna (Pooh Bear paddock, clay loam over light clay) had the highest grain yield (5.8 t/ha) across the 14 EP paddocks and 100% of yield potential achieved.
• Karkoo, Yeelanna (South West) and Witera had similar grain yield (3.82-4.70 t/ha), but only Witera had over 100% yield potential achieved.
• Paddock yields were also affected by soil constraints and other abiotic stresses.

 

• Irrigation resulted in a 60% and 400% increase in grain yield for broad beans and marrowfat peas respectively.
• Irrigation resulted in a 17% and 3% increase in seed size in broad beans and marrowfat peas respectively. This is critical in producing for markets requiring large seed size.
• It is likely that the dry finish to the season (decile 1) enhanced the positive effects of irrigation particularly for the marrowfat peas and other spring sown crops.
• In addition to the capacity to irrigate and a cool seasonal finish, Tasmania has other advantages in marrowfat pea production that can be capitalised upon ie - excellent adaptation of overseas spring germplasm and freedom from pea weevil.

This research highlights how important a tactical approach to STNB management is in the medium rainfall zone.  In dry seasons there is lower disease pressure, resulting in a potentially expensive fungicide strategy which can be marginal in returns.  Conversely, where there is high disease pressure usually from wet conditions early in the season, then a double spray strategy can improve grain quality, yield and returns to the grower.

Where growing barley on barley, growers should budget for a fungicide spray at Flag-1 every year to protect the top 3 leaves in the canopy.  Where conditions are wet early post emergent (especially if stubble is retained) allowing early disease pressure and high yield potential then a fungicide spray at Z31-Z32 can reduce disease pressure and protect the canopy until the Flag-1 spray is applied.

Under high disease pressure situations (wet conditions early post emergent) removing stubble prior to sowing barley on barley can reduce inoculum levels and the build up of early disease pressure.  This will also help to reduce the selection pressure for fungicide resistance.

Where there is a dry start to the season and a slow build up of disease then stubble management has minimal impact on the buildup of STNB levels.

Burning barley stubble prior to planting barley on barley has shown to increase yield buy between 325 and 400kg in 2017 and 2015. While removing stubble can reduce early disease pressure, not all the yield increase can be accounted for by disease.  Other factors are involved that may require additional work to understand (N mineralization, allelopathic impacts of stubble or improved seed bed).  Where erosion risk is low growers should consider burning to remove barley stubble if planting consecutive barley crops.

We feel that there is no further work required to investigate the hypothesized link between STNB levels and pre-harvest head loss.

Growers, advisors and the wider barley industry are the key beneficiaries of this research.  Being able to manage disease to maintain grain quality, yield and economic returns to the grower is critical for a competitive barley industry.

This research highlights how important a tactical approach to STNB management is in the medium rainfall zone.  In dry seasons there is lower disease pressure, resulting in a potentially expensive fungicide strategy which can be marginal in returns.  Conversely, where there is high disease pressure usually from wet conditions early in the season, then a double spray strategy can improve grain quality, yield and returns to the grower.

Where growing barley on barley, growers should budget for a fungicide spray at Flag-1 every year to protect the top 3 leaves in the canopy.  Where conditions are wet early post emergent (especially if stubble is retained) allowing early disease pressure and high yield potential then a fungicide spray at Z31-Z32 can reduce disease pressure and protect the canopy until the Flag-1 spray is applied.

Under high disease pressure situations (wet conditions early post emergent) removing stubble prior to sowing barley on barley can reduce inoculum levels and the build up of early disease pressure.  This will also help to reduce the selection pressure for fungicide resistance.

Where there is a dry start to the season and a slow build up of disease then stubble management has minimal impact on the buildup of STNB levels.

Burning barley stubble prior to planting barley on barley has shown to increase yield buy between 325 and 400kg in 2017 and 2015. While removing stubble can reduce early disease pressure, not all the yield increase can be accounted for by disease.  Other factors are involved that may require additional work to understand (N mineralization, allelopathic impacts of stubble or improved seed bed).  Where erosion risk is low growers should consider burning to remove barley stubble if planting consecutive barley crops.

We feel that there is no further work required to investigate the hypothesized link between STNB levels and pre-harvest head loss.

Growers, advisors and the wider barley industry are the key beneficiaries of this research.  Being able to manage disease to maintain grain quality, yield and economic returns to the grower is critical for a competitive barley industry.

• Rhizoctonia solani AG8 inoculum levels were reduced over summer and this may be associated with summer rainfall events.
• Crop rotation does affect Rhizoctonia inoculum levels, i.e. levels were lowest immediately after canola compared to that after wheat.
• The incidence and severity of Rhizoctonia bare patch disease in cereals depend on the amount of pathogen inoculum, soil microbial community activity and crop/root vigour.
• Seed treatments did not reduce rhizoctonia levels in 2009 trials undertaken on EP and the Mallee.
• To reduce risk of yield loss caused by Rhizoctonia:

Control summer weeds to stop build-up of inoculum,

Encourage early seedling vigour, sow early,

Cultivate deep sow shallow (avoid disc seeders).

• Canola can help reduce inoculum for the following wheat crop.
• Barley and wheat are the most intolerant crops.
• Minimise N deficiency at seeding, particularly for cereal on cereal rotations where summer rainfall has been low, by deep banding N and minimising stubble incorporation at seeding.

• The high input plots all generally yielded below their comparable normal input plot (in the case of the raised beds it was quite significant) and this may also be due to the higher inputs resulting in excessive growth making the crops more prone to lodging.
• For further results please see the attached trial report.

Intensive cropping systems rely on a high level of production management and prudent financial mangment to be successful, particularly in such a variable climate. Furthermore, such systems are increasingly reliant on agricultural chemicals. As well as being costly, the flow on effects of this reliance such as herbicide resistant weeds and changes to pest populations invokes thoughts about the long term environmental and financial sustainability of such a system.

Carbon is generating plenty of interest at present and the project aims to answer questions around increasing organic carbon in agricultural soils through the addition of carbon source. It would be expected that the results will show minimal impact on soil carbon levels in the first year of trialling however will to be tested by the Facey Group in continuance to the project. Harvest results however require further investigation with such variance between the remainder of the paddock and the treatments within the trial.

The next step is to engage a Carbon Farming service provider, to work with the proponents to prepare a submission to register both a revegetation project and a natural regeneration project with the Emissions Reduciton Fund.

• Blackleg internal infection was found in many varieties including some varieties that had higher levels than would be expected.
• Due to the good winter and spring, the level of yield loss at a certain level of internal infection was much lower than measured in 2008.
• Farmers need to cut canola stems at windrowing time to assess the level of blackleg.

• Blackleg internal infection was found in many varieties inclding some varieties that had higher levels than would be expected. 
• Due to teh good winter and spring, the level of yield loss as a certain level of internal infection was much lower than measured in 2008.
• Farmers need to cut canola stems at windrowing time to assess the level of blackleg. 

• The risk of blackspot is influenced by many factors of which seasonal conditions play a significant role in disease outbreak as was observed in this trial.
• Fungicide use to control blackspot is one of the strategies to minimise the disease.
• Although there was no effect of fungicide treatment on yield, previous trials have shown that crops sown into high blackspot risk and with a high yield potential can benefit from a fungicide strategy of P-Pickel T seed dressing combined with a mancozeb spray at 9 nodes growth stage followed by a second spray at early flowering.

• Early sowing plus large numbers of airborne spores caused severe blackspot infection in pea crops in 2009.
• Winter and spring rain increased severity of blackspot in the pea crops.
• Airborne blackspot spore numbers are expected to be high in 2010 since pea stubbles have severe disease loads.

Cereals can be successfully established into existing stands of lucerne to increase winter production without compromising summer
production of the lucerne. The choice of cereal will influence the amount of winter and spring production.

Green manuring canola or mustard has not been proven to be beneficial following wheat crops in the southern Mallee.

Wheat yields were highest when grown after chickpeas or lupins at both low and moderate phosphorus (P) sites. Benefits provided by the previous chickpea or lupin crops could not be attributed to an increase in residual P sources alone.

• Two Clearfield varieties, Pioneer 44Y84 and Pioneer 45Y82, exceeded 2.5 t/ha at Mt Cooper.
• There were no standout varieties in the Triazine Tolerant (TT) and Conventional canola varieties at both Minnipa and Mt Cooper.
• Juncea canola and Biodiesel canola produced lower yields than in the past compared to traditional napus canola due to above average rainfall year.
• No significant difference between the newly released pea lines at Mount Cooper.
• Break crops were successfully grown at Penong in 2010.

• Field pea, vetch, faba bean and lentil had 3-125% higher biomass yield and 51-110% higher grain yield than chickpea and canola at Minnipa, 2018.
• Current high demand and grain prices for faba bean meant they were the most profitable break crop species.
• Low grain yield of canola (0.43 t/ha) and chickpea (0.39 t/ha) resulted in these crop species not being profitable as grain crops.
• Field pea and vetch, in particular, have multiple alternative end-use options in dry seasonal conditions that can be utilised to recover crop input costs.

• Wheat grain yield can be expected to be reduced by around 0.5 t/ha for every tonne of in-crop grass weed dry matter present in spring.
• Wheat following break crops were consistently more profitable than wheat on wheat. This in part reflected the  relatively low wheat grain prices experienced during experimentation, and the high returns for canola, but was also related to the efficacy and costs of ryegrass control.
• Growing pulses for brown manure (Bm) lost money in the year that they were grown, but achieved excellent weed control, provided high inputs of N and a residual carry-over of soil water, and more ground cover than if they had been cut for hay.
• In the presence of a high density of herbicide resistant ryegrass a ‘single break’ was not adequate to reduce weed seedbanks and subsequent in-crop weed competition. ‘Double breaks’ (two broad leaf break crops, or break crop - cereal hay sequence) reduced ryegrass seedbank numbers to manageable levels and were amongst the most profitable sequences.
• Break crop choice and selection should be based on individual farm management and ability to manage the various break crops options in the rotation. If growers remain flexible in break crop and end-use decisions, and make suitable choices, risks associated with producing them can be greatly reduced.
• A cropping program that includes break crops is likely to be more sustainable in terms of N inputs and risk of build-up of root diseases than continuous wheat, and provided cheaper, more effective strategies for controlling herbicide resistant grass weeds.

• Field pea had higher biomass and grain yield production than other break crop species at Minnipa, although @RISK analysis suggests field pea is only profitable as a grain crop in 41% of years.
• @RISK analysis model outcomes indicate chickpea, vetch hay and lentil are lower risk break crop species, and are profitable in more than 50% of years.
• Field pea and vetch have multiple alternative end-use options in dry seasonal conditions that can be utilised to recover crop input costs and salvage a financial return.

 

Biomass and grain yield performance of varieties differed between environments, particularly when there were major differences in soil characteristics and rainfall.

• Crop sequence experimentation undertaken in Central West NSW in 2011 and 2012, has demonstrated that crop sequences which include a brassica or legume break crops can be as profitable as, and in many instances more profitable than, continuous wheat.
• Growing pulses for hay was found to provide high quality feed as good as from cereals but hay from canola was less nutritious. However, canola hay provided an alternative option in cases where a possible crop failure is likely due to adverse weather.
• Growing pulses for hay was found to be profitable across a range of season types, achieves excellent grass weed control and provides greater N inputs and higher carry-over of soil water than when the same crop is grown for grain.

• Average wheat yield gains were approximately 0.6 t/ha in the first year after a break and the size of this yield gain was similar in high and low yielding seasons.
• Second year break effects were generally in the order of 0.3 t/ha and third year break effects 0.1 t/ha, resulting in a total of approximately 1 t/ha more wheat being produced following a break compared to continuous wheat.
• The effect of breaks on subsequent wheat yields is usually more consistent across soils, seasons and break type than the yield of break crops.
• Cumulative gross margins from wheat following legume, brassica and legume-based pasture breaks were generally much higher than continuous wheat, but the overall profitability of including breaks is strongly determined by the high variability in the relative profit from the different break options on different soils in the year that they are grown.

• Canola produced the highest gross margin of all break crops grown in 2010.
• Wheat grown following peas and vetch had the highest grain yields and protein concentrations.
• Crop sequences of canola, pea grain or hay and vetch following by wheat have gross margins equal to or higher than wheat-wheat and fallow-wheat on both sand and clay soils.

Wheat consistently yields more following a broadleaf break-crop than following wheat or a long-fallow. Wheat yields more when grown after legumes (peas and vetch) than after brassicas (mustard, canola). Wheat yields are consistently higher following vetch than all other break crops. Canola, pea hay or vetch hay followed by two wheat crops were more profitable than continuous wheat or fallow followed by two wheat crops.

Canola, juncea canola, vetch and pea hay were all more profitable than wheat on both sand and clay soil types.

Brassica or legume break crops can be as profitable as wheat. In most cases, the higher the legume dry matter produced, the greater the amount of nitrogen produced. Strategic timing of operations such as hay cutting and brown manuring provide an opportunity for improved weed control.

Wheat yields in 2012 were higher following hay, brown manure or fallow in 2011, probably due to extra water conserved in these treatments. Crop sequences including a break crop are at least as profitable as continuous wheat, with some examples of substantial profit gain. Where continuous cereals are grown, cutting wheat for hay can provide substantial yield and profit benefits to subsequent wheat in seasons with low growing season rain.

Wheat yields in 2012 were higher following hay, brown manure or fallow in 2011, probably due to extra water conserved in these treatments. Crop sequences including a break crop are at least as profitable as continuous wheat, with some examples of substantial profit gain. Where continuous cereals are grown, cutting wheat for hay can provide substantial yield and profit benefits to subsequent wheat in seasons with low growing season rain.

The time from sowing to emergence represents a key period in the development of high-yielding wheat crops.

• Highly winter active lucerne varieties had better establishment than the winter active or semi dormant varieties.
• Many of the breeder's lines showed better establishment than the commercial cultivars.

Post-emergent herbicide was scored for visual damage on 26th September 2012. These results have been combined with yield data and the results will be discussed with Pulse Australia to look at future work in determining herbicide permits for Broad Bean crops.

• Pre-emergent herbicides were equally as effective at controlling broadleaf weeds as post-emergent herbicides in this faba bean trial
• Reflex® is a new pre-emergent herbicide option for control of broadleaf weeds with good residual activity and is effective at reducing weed density and biomass
• If a post-emergent herbicide is required Ecopar® is best for broadleaf weed control in non-imi-tolerant varieties and Intercept® is good for imi-tolerant varieties

• Brome grass is becoming more prevalent in the Victorian Mallee with adoption of no-till farming an dintensification of cereal cropping systems where few effective herbicides are available for control.
• The ecology of brome grass has changed, making it more problematic to control in crops.
• Aim for two consecutive years of control to deplete the seedbank of hthis troublesome weed.

• Brome grass control in wheat is difficult (except when using Clearfield technology).
• Brome grass is becoming an increasing problem and there is evidence that the problem is increasing faster under direct drill systems with an intensive cereal rotation.
• Pre-emergent herbicides such as trifluralin and metribuzine do have activity on brome grass but the effect is slight suppression only (metribuzin is not registered in wheat).

• The ecology of brome grass has changed, making it more problematic to control in crops. Higher levels of seed dormancy are allowing brome to escape pre-sowing control tactics, resulting in greater in-crop emergence.
• Increased seed dormancy associated with a requirement for cold or chilling. Under field conditions this increased chilling requirement would not be met until late Autumn or early Winter.
• Knockdown herbicides are less effective in the management of highly dormant populations of brome. Therefore, brome grass management has become heavily reliant on Group A and B herbicides, especially the Clearfield(TM) technology, which is expected to increase the risk of herbicide resistance development.
• High levels of seedbank persistence from one year to the next (approximately 25%) means multiyear control of brome grass is required to exhaust seedbanks to manageable levels. Plan a three-year rotation.

• Many techniques can be employed to deplete the brome seedbank but an integrated weed management (IWM) approach reduces reliance on herbicides (ie. imi’s).
• In the best managed paddocks, two years of effective management reduce brome grass seedbank to <50 seeds/m2 (8-32 seed/m2 ).
• The most effective rotations for reducing brome populations incorporated oaten hay, break crops, legumes and CLF cereals.

• If early sowing, Morava vetch is the best choice for brown manuring, particularly if brown manuring for early weed control is the objective since early desiccation will preclude any persistence of hard-seeded vetch into subsequent crops. Field peas are the preferred option for later (mid May) sowing for either brown manuring or crop topping
• TOS 1 field peas had disease problems in early winter reducing biomass.

• Spader generally produced a positive yield response (grain and biomass) on sandier soils that had previously been clay spread and /delved.
• The inclusion of organic matter prior to spading generally improved the level of response to spading.
• Know your soils that you are spading; (not recommended on shallow red loam soils over clay where there is a sodic A2 horizon)

• With low rainfall and poor growth at many sites, crops required little P to maximise grain yield.
• On a red sandy clay loam at Minnipa, wheat only needed a Colwell P value of 10-15 mg/kg to achieve maximum grain yield without P fertiliser.
• Canola appears to have a lower critical P level than wheat.

• Fifty alkaline cropping soils form southern Australia were sampled and analysed for micronutrients.
• Mid infrared spectra for eahc soil was also obtained and partial least squared regression used to estimate micronutrient content.
• Very good correlations wbetween MIR and measured micronutrient concentrations and offfers an attactive alternative to traditional techniques.

• Results from experimentation undertaken in southern NSW in 2011 and 2012, have demonstrated that crop sequences which include a brassica or legume break crops can be as profitable as, and in many instances more profitable than, continuous wheat.
• Canola was consistently the most profitable break crop option. However, the rotational benefits of canola were usually restricted to just the first subsequent wheat crop whereas additional wheat yields can occur for two years after a legume.
• Growing pulses for grain maximises profit, particularly in favourable seasons, but compromises grass weed control and (depending upon species) reduces N available to subsequent crops compared to brown manuring.
• Growing pulses for hay was found to be profitable across a range of season types, achieves excellent grass weed control and provides greater N inputs and higher carry-over of soil water than when the same crop is grown for grain.
• Growing pules for brown manure loses money in the year they are grown, but achieves excellent grass weed control, high N inputs, residual carry-over of soil water, provides more ground cover, and requires less labour than when grown for hay or grain.

• My conclusion is that Conservation Farming practices are just as applicable in a marginal environment as in a more reliable one, perhaps more so. The trick here is to establish a blend of the existing knowledge (e.g. need to store moisture when possible, weed control, fertility management, sound pasture phase, timeliness of sowing, disease management), plus the newly available technology of seeders and herbicides that can continue to grow solid yielding, but importantly more profitable crops into the future.

• Our standard package of 100 kg 18:20/ha at seeding under the seed row (to avoid fertiliser toxicity),  and two top-ups of nitrogen during the season (50 kg N/ha as broadcast urea each time) was not the right combination for wheat at our site last year. It would appear that we were far too generous with our N inputs because we could leave out all fertiliser N and not suffer any yield loss. However, some N would appear to have been necessary to maintain high protein levels.
• In addition, our standard package of one trial spray in September did not cope with the stripe rust  infection in such a susceptible crop as Wyalkatchem. A Jockey seed dressing helped but another foliar spray of Tilt at flag leaf emergence gave the best control of the options tested.
  • This trial showed that under the high productivity conditions of Kangaroo Island, P fertiliser is still a vital requirement, even if the soil has high P reserves.
  • There was no evidence that extra management options provided any further benefits to wheat performance (ie extra seed dressings, an early aphid spray, B or K fertiliser or use of a growth regulant) under the conditions of last year’s trial.
  • All yields fell far short of the French/Schultz potential yield of 8.4 t/ha (based on the growing season rainfall in 2005 of 532 mm) which suggests that we still have a lot to learn about growing wheat under Kangaroo Island conditions, although the delayed seeding date of 28 June would have contributed to the relatively low yields.

• As long as enough plants are established, canola can be sown at low rates as the plants compensate so well. Lodging was reduced by lower sowing rates. 
• Using retained hybrid seed for sowing resulted in lower grain yeilds and increased plant losses from blackleg.
• Winter types of canola from international sources may allow us to get increased grain yeilds in seasons when we can sow early. 

• Commercial viability has been difficult to demonstrate.
• Field trials demonstrated that the H Senor was able to accurately classify annual ryegrass in several broadleaf crops, including canola, faba bean, lentil and field pea.
• Other grass weeds such as brome grass and wild oats were also correctly identified as grasses in these crops.
• Broad leaf weeds were accurately classified in cereal crops, however this was more difficult due to the overlapping nature of the cereal crops at the time when the broadleaf weeds had emerged.
• Classification accuracy was lower for detection of grass weeds in cereal crops and broadleaf weeds in broadleaf crops, and these scenarios were not pursued for that reason.  

• Commercial viability has been difficult to demonstrate.
• Field trials demonstrated that the H Senor was able to accurately classify annual ryegrass in several broadleaf crops, including canola, faba bean, lentil and field pea.
• Other grass weeds such as brome grass and wild oats were also correctly identified as grasses in these crops.
• Broad leaf weeds were accurately classified in cereal crops, however this was more difficult due to the overlapping nature of the cereal crops at the time when the broadleaf weeds had emerged.
• Classification accuracy was lower for detection of grass weeds in cereal crops and broadleaf weeds in broadleaf crops, and these scenarios were not pursued for that reason.  

• Canola is an important part of my cropping rotation as it has been profitable in it's own right and provided benefits to following crops.
• However it requires a lot of water and nutrients to be successful, and when port prices fall below about $300/tonne I question taking the risks involved in growing canola.

• I firmly believe that canola is here to stay in the district. It is in many ways better suited to the
  environment than wheat.
• The frost risk from sowing early is much greater with wheat because it only flowers for a few days.
• Frosts at this time can devastate wheat crops.

The 2009 season was one we would like to forget, with decile 1 growing season rainfall for nearly all grain growing regions in Victoria. Despite the season, crops in many areas looked excellent, but those without stored subsoil moisture at sowing struggled considerably with no effective rainfall in spring. Oil contents were highly variable, and generally low. Frosts on 23 October and 17 November wiped off about one-third of the crop in the Western District

• Time of nitrogen application was not as important as the quantity available to the plant.
• Nitrogen is an important driver of canola yields across dune-swale soil types and must be managed in the low rainfall zone for the crop to be profitable.

 

• 16 new varieties/hybrids will be marketed in 2006. ƒ
• Limited yield results are available to date – check NVT database and produce summaries for your areas. ƒ
• Review long term data and try new varieties in conjunction with proven varieties. ƒ
• Biodiesel is a renewable fuel that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and has the potential to offer grain growers an alternative market for their oil-based grains. ƒ
• GM crops have had significant global economic and environmental impact but have been effectively on-hold in the short term in Australia due to the moratoriums imposed by state governments. ƒ

Unfortunately this trial was quite patchy and the other results from Victoria were also variable so it is difficult to make much comment.
Although there were no disease symptoms at this site, an observation that was made at a number of locations in Victoria and South Australia in 2003, was that the Jockey ® seed treatment was effecting plant vigour and slowing development of the canola.
This is reflected in the Victorian average yield figures and has led to the development of a potential alternative product known as Maxim ®. While trials will continue in 2004, Maxim will be available to some extent this year for activity on both Blackleg and Pythium.

• Intermittent prevailing dry conditions experienced through the growing season probably impacted negatively on the residual activity of Atradex WG and Intervix in the TT and CL canola systems respectively, while resistance to Group A and Group B Herbicides would also have been a contributing factor.
  • Final weed control ratings (out of 10):
  • Roundup Ready canola system – 9.9
  • Triazine Tolerant canola system – 7
  • Clearfield canola system – 7.5
• The trial was harvested 5th November (168 days after sowing). Yield data are shown below. The high yields and oil content probably reflect timely rain rather than a particularly good season. There is some discrepancy between the yields of the trial and the paddock average harvested by Andrew. The harvest contractor is confident that the figures reflect the true yield for the site and suggest that this area of the paddock was possibly a high yielding area compared to other areas of the paddock, or that the impact of small plot water harvesting may have played a role. The trial is more about relative performance than actual performance: on average the RR system yielded 38 percent higher than the TT system and 15 percent higher than the CL system.
• System specific input costs used in calculations in the table above provide a ball park summary of specific costs associated with each system. They are not hard and fast figures, to be disputed. It is appreciated that each and every item is subject to negotiation with suppliers so readers are encouraged to re-work the figures to suit their experience and anticipated costs for 2011.
• The trial demonstrates that in this instance growers would have on average an additional $500 per hectare to meet other costs when growing RR canola over TT canola (purchased seed) or an additional $465 per hectare over TT canola (using farmer saved seed – assuming that the same yields are obtained for these TT crops).
• Again in this instance growers would have on average an additional $225 per hectare to meet other costs when growing RR canola over CL canola (purchasing all seed) or an additional $190 per hectare over CL canola (using farmer saved seed).
• These additional earnings per hectare are even more attractive when one considers the fact that the level of weed control achieved by the RR system was significantly better than that achieved by the other two systems.

• The late sown crops (in July) were extremely poor and were not harvested.
• The optimum sowing time for the 1996 season was early May.
• There was no significant difference in yield between karoo and Narendra on the same sowing date.

• Garnet, Hyola 50 and 44Y84 yielded significantly better than the site mean (2.4t.ha).
• Quality was exceptionally high in all varieties.
• Average yields of Triazine Tolerant (TT) varieties were similar to the Roundup Read (RR), Imi-tolerant (IT) and conventional varieties in 2010.

• Frost and mouse damage was severe in the plots.
• The crops were sown early and the frost occurred just as the grain was starting to form in the pods.
• Mice were active in the plots until bait was put out.

• There were no significant differences in yields between the varieties
• Quality information (admix and oil %) was not available at the time of printing.
• Due to the risk of spray drift onto sensitive crops, broadleaf control of the trial was not ideal. This may have had an impact on trial yields. • Jardee didn’t produce the expected yield advantage over the TT varieties that was expected. This may have been due to consecutive hot days in mid-October reducing the potential for later maturing varieties. This is supported by the highest yield in the trial being the earliest maturity variety (Tanami), although this was not a significant difference.

• The concept of canopy management for improved disease control, fertiliser use efficiency and grain yield has been well documented in cereals, however limited research has been  onductedc on this concept in pulse crops, including faba beans.
• While large bean canopies are beneficial from a nitrogen fixation perspective, these often pose a number of problems, such as shading of flowers, poor fungicide penetration, increase disease intensity, increased plant lodging, decreased harvestability and the potential for haying off in seasons with a sharp finish.

In 2017, approximately 50% of barley grass weed seed was already on the ground (dropped) before the first swathing opportunity.

• In 2019, approximately 40% of barley grass seeds had already dropped on the ground before the first swathing opportunity.
• Barley grass seed retention declines with every successive week and by crop maturity retained only 20% of its seed on the head.
• If growers are aiming to collect grass seed using harvest weed seed management strategies (chaff carts or windrows) they need to harvest grassy paddocks as early as possible to maximise weed seed collection.

 

Irrigators should be advised by policy makers in the strongest possible terms to utilise continual logging soil moisture monitoring in their irrigation management plans. Soil moisture monitoring should not be viewed as an optional extra in an irrigation system but rather as the control centre that determines when to irrigate and how much to apply. The role of irrigation for crop production and salinity management requires soil moisture monitoring to determine the optimal time and volumes to achieve measurable objectives. Further research is needed to qualify and quantify the use of salt leaching irrigations as well as the use of gypsum applications to manage surface compaction created by stock and irrigation impact. White clover seed producers need to improve their attention to irrigation efficiency and focus on the net $ return/ML of irrigation applied. They are also advised to review their agronomic practices including paddock selection and rotations to aid in mitigating their current high end herbicide use on the white clover seed crops.

• Edillilie crops show huge potential to recover from grazing and value add to cereals.
• Edillilie crops responded to late N application with higher DM production and grain yield.
• Barley was the highest producer of DM at Minnipa.
• Two other G&G regions conducted cereal grazing trials - see the "Sharing Info" section of this book.

On-Duty residues may affect the performance of subsequent susceptible crops. Cereals are considered a safe crop option following Clearfield canola as long as the On-Duty has been applied prior to the end of August and that rainfall between spraying and sowing the next winter crop has been at least 250mm.

• Burning or cultivating 2015 stubbles tended to produce higher yields, however this was only significant at Ungarie.
• High rainfall and a soft finish removed the benefit of stored soil moisture that stubble retained systems may have provided.
• Nitrogen was the limiting factor for both yield and protein for 2016.
• Growers cannot let stubble negatively impact on weed control and timely sowing.
• Growers should use crop rotation to their advantage by aiming to sow the right crop into the least antagonistic stubble.
• Stubble retained systems can require more nitrogen due to increased nitrogen tie-up.

• Grazed crops showed no effects from grazing in 2016 – an excellent season producing high early biomass. Crops recovered and yielded very well.
• Trojan and LRPB Arrow were the best dual purpose wheat varieties.
• Fathom, Spartacus and Rosalind were the best dual purpose barley varieties.

 

• Current standard practices of 50 kg/ha DAP or 50 kg/ha MAP balanced with urea below the seed provides adequate P nutrition.
• With adequate soil moisture, no large differences in grain yield were observed in 2019 at Streaky Bay with different granular fertiliser treatments.

Key messages: There was a significant effect of deep ripping on both dry matter production and grain yield for all three crops. Conversely the was no significant effect of organic matter inputs in any of the trials.

• Commercial viability has been difficult to demonstrate.
• Field trials demonstrated that the H Senor was able to accurately classify annual ryegrass in several broadleaf crops, including canola, faba bean, lentil and field pea.
• Other grass weeds such as brome grass and wild oats were also correctly identified as grasses in these crops.
• Broad leaf weeds were accurately classified in cereal crops, however this was more difficult due to the overlapping nature of the cereal crops at the time when the broadleaf weeds had emerged.
• Classification accuracy was lower for detection of grass weeds in cereal crops and broadleaf weeds in broadleaf crops, and these scenarios were not pursued for that reason.  

• Resistant varieties will still produce excellent yields under high disease pressure and provide growers with a low risk alternative to grow chickpeas again.
• The resistant varieties Genesis 090 and Genesis 509 produce excellent yields under high disease pressure and provide growers with a low risk alternative to grow chickpeas again.